Pegasus provides Grade 1 breakthrough for Mucho Macho Man

Mucho Gusto emerged from a four-month break to run away a decisive winner of the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park and provide his sire Mucho Macho Man with his first top-level success.

Bob Baffert’s trainee was already one of a pair of graded scorers delivered from the first two crops by the Adena Springs resident, having landed the Bob Hope Stakes as a juvenile and picked up a couple more Grade 3s in his three-year-old campaign.

Mucho Gusto, bred by Bernardo Alvarez Calderon and Teneri Farm out of minor winner Itsagiantcauseway, is from Mucho Macho Man’s first crop. He was not too popular the first time he went into the ring, changing hands for $14,000 as a foal at Keeneland and for a mark-up $95,000 as a yearling.

Prepared by Kip Elser’s Kirkwood Stables as a breeze-up prospect, he was bought back at Ocala in March but finally found favour at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic event in May of 2018 when bought by Michael Lund Petersen for $625,000.

He was the subject of a private purchase by Prince Faisal Bin Khaled following his most recent outing in late September and after pleasing Baffert in training, justified the move by powering four and a half lengths clear in the $3 million event and could now have international options on the agenda.

Mucho Macho Man, who stands for $10,000 at Frank Stronach’s breeding operation, was third in the 2011 Kentucky Derby and was a regular at Gulfstream himself, twice winning the Sunshine Millions Classic as well as a keynote victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He is also the sire of American Oaks runner-up Mucho Unusual.

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